Season Five carries us into 2022 with starry new Pirate Emporium offerings, the allure of the first online Sea of Thieves Community Day and another trove of fixes and improvements! Remind yourself of Season Five’s headline features with the content update trailer...


This Season’s original release notes here also offer an in-depth breakdown of all that December launch content. Now read on to find out what’s being delivered in this next phase!

For those seeking something a little more focused than the wide-ranging Trials and Deeds, Season Five has so far delivered a number of time-limited Events offering their own rewards. Find out what you can take part in this month!

Season Five Community Day (January 30th)

• All players jumping into the game on our first ever Community Day will be gifted the exclusive Season Five Community Day Flag and new Power Chord Emote. Be sure to fly that flag when you set sail!
  
• For the first time ever, gold, reputation and Renown multipliers will be in your hands! Tweet using the hashtag #SeaOfThievesCommunityDay to play your part in boosting the Community Emissary Grade and multiplying rewards earned by all players across the seas.
  
• Tune in to participating streamers on Community Day and earn the Gilded Phoenix Tankard. Head to our Twitch Drops page now to link your accounts!
  
• Finally, visit the Sea of Thieves merchandise store for a celebratory sale where SoT products will be discounted by 30% using the code COMMUNITYDAY at checkout. For the icing on the cake, look out for the exclusive new Community Day T-shirt – only available for purchase on January 30th!
  
• Find out more about Season Five Community Day here.

Twitch Drops

• Continue to unlock even more cosmetics throughout Season Five with Twitch Drops! Stay tuned to Sea of Thieves social channels to find out when Twitch Drops will be active for Partnered streamers, allowing players to earn more items from the Twilight Hunter set. Find out how to link your accounts and more on our dedicated Twitch Drops page.

January’s Emporium restock boasts some real star power: the expansive Lodestar collection includes not just a new ship set but a matching costume, weapons and even pets. There are new emotes too, and Season Five’s Plunder Pass is available until the Season ends!

Season Five Plunder Pass

• Anyone wishing to take full advantage of Season Five rewards can still buy the Plunder Pass. Any rewards unlocked will become available upon purchase, so players who have raised their Renown throughout Season Five can instantly see their hard work rewarded before the Season ends.
  
• This Season’s Plunder Pass offers early access to an especially generous 14 items of upcoming Emporium stock, and can be purchased at any time through the Pirate Log, Pirate Emporium, Microsoft Store or Steam Item Store.

Lodestar Ship Collection

• Sail on a sea of stars with the Lodestar Ship Collection! In addition to the main Lodestar Ship Bundle, a stellar Collector’s Figurehead and Collector’s Sails can be purchased separately.
  
• A Lodestar Essential Ship Bundle is also on offer, including just the core ship cosmetics at a discount.

Lodestar Weapon Bundle

• Light up your foes with these four new astral armaments!

Lodestar Spyglass

• Look up at the heavens in quieter moments on the seas with this star-decorated spyglass.
  Lodestar Costume Set
  
• Embrace your inner starchild with this cosmic costume. Players will receive two variants, one with a starry hairstyle and one without!
  
• This costume also comes with a Stargazing Emote which can be performed whenever the costume is worn.

Lodestar Pet Collection

• Invite two celestial companions into your collection: the Lodestar Parrot and Lodestar Cat!
  Wedding Party Emotes
  
• Celebrate a pirate’s special day with these matrimonial emotes.
  Lunar Festival Costume Emote
  
• When equipped, the Lunar Festival Costume now includes a unique Lunar Scroll Emote!

Time-Limited Lunar Festival Pet Outfits

• Ensure good fortune in the new year with these Lunar Festival Pet Outfits, back on Emporium shelves for a limited time.

Freebie Something Stinks Emote

• What’s that smell? Show your distaste for foul odours with this free emote.

Celestial Companions Bundle (Store Only) 

• Available from the Steam Store, this bundle contains the Lodestar Costume Set, Lodestar Cat, 550 Ancient Coins and a free 25,000 gold bonus for use in the Outpost shops! Head to the Steam Item Store to find out more.

Seafoam Castaway Bilge Rat Set

• The Outpost clothing shops now stock the Seafoam Castaway Bilge Rat clothing set, available to purchase for gold.

Figurehead of the Silent Barnacle

• Long thought lost, the Figurehead of the Silent Barnacle has finally reached the Outpost shipwrights, locked behind the Hoarder of Barnacled Gold Commendation.

Island Enemy Encounters

• While exploring islands, crews who encounter and vanquish individual Ocean Crawlers, Phantoms or skeletons from a group of enemies should find that they call in reinforcements less frequently before the group is defeated.
  
• After vanquishing a group of Ocean Crawlers, Phantoms or skeletons, crews should now enjoy a much longer respite period before encountering them again on the same island.

Hit Registration on Distant Targets

• Improvements have been made to how hit detection calculates bullets affected by gravity, providing a small improvement to hit registration for ranged weapons when firing at medium- to long-distance targets.

Selling Firework Crates

• Firework Crates can now be sold back to the Merchant Alliance and Reaper’s Bones even when no longer full – but expect a reduced payout!

New Player Onboarding Improvements

• When new players arrive on the Sea of Thieves, after listening to the Mysterious Stranger in the tavern, they will now be directed to the signposts which will help guide them around the Outpost.
  
• New players will now receive a notification after selling items to the Gold Hoarders, Order of Souls or Merchant Alliance for the first time, informing them that they can purchase Voyages from these Trading Companies that will lead to additional loot.
  
• Players collecting fish or meat for the first time will also receive a notification, directing them to The Hunter's Call where they can sell their catch. The notification will also inform players of how to use their ship’s map to locate a nearby Seapost.
  
• New players purchasing their first cosmetic items will be informed how to use the various cosmetic chests to access these, including clothing, weapons, equipment and ship parts.

Rolling Dice Emotes

• When one of the Rolling Dice Emotes is performed, the result is now shown in the notification window as well as the player’s hand. Players using ‘Let Games Read to Me’ will also have the result narrated.

Spatial Audio Support

• Players on supported PCs can now enable Spatial Audio and experience full immersive surround and elevation audio for both headphones, and Atmos-capable Home Theatre systems.
  
• To enable Spatial Audio on supported PCs, first head to the Windows Sound Control Panel and within the Properties for the preferred Playback Device, enable Spatial Sound. Then navigate to the in-game audio settings and enable Spatial Sound there.

Optimising Server Performance Using Player Limits

• Sea of Thieves servers are now able to optimise performance by enforcing limits on the number of players on a server. This approach allows servers to maintain an ideal number of ships to ensure encounter rates between crews remains high without negatively affecting performance.
  
• With January’s update, all servers return to supporting six crews, but now also enforce a limit of 16 players.
  When starting a session or migrating, servers will now actively matchmake six crews of different sizes in order to meet both the six-crew and 16-player limits..
  
• The team will continue to monitor server performance following launch and adjust the player limit outside the update process to optimise the experience.

Loot Haul Memory Controls

• When notable hauls of different loot items are gathered in a single place, the game will reach a threshold where it will optimise performance by changing the appearance of some items. Players on PC will now have the ability to configure how much system memory can be allocated to these loot hauls, ensuring higher-spec rigs can show a wider range of treasure.

Gameplay

• Achievements have now been re-enabled, allowing all previously earned achievements to be granted when players next log in to the game.
  
• Shots fired from the Royal Revenge Pistol now more accurately land in line with the barrel of the gun.
  
• Players attempting to glitch through a ship’s hull from the water will now be safe-teleported away from the ship.
  
• Jumping while attempting to reload a ranged weapon from an Ammo Crate will no longer cause the weapon to subsequently fail to reload, and will also no longer prevent players from eating food.
  
• After equipping the Party Boat Cannons on a Brigantine, players fired from the cannons should now travel in the intended direction.
  
• Using a heavy sword strike while standing on a ship’s harpoon should no longer cause the player to gain extra range on their jump.
  
• When browsing a barrel or crate with mouse and keyboard, moving the mouse quickly between the crate and inventory should no longer cause the crate to lose mouse focus and become unresponsive.
  
• When a Rowboat’s storage chest is emptied, the tooltip now updates to show ‘Empty’ without needing to open it.
  
• The Legend of Buried Treasures Commendation should now unlock upon completing all other associated Commendations.
  
• Crews will no longer be awarded the Gunpowder, Treason and Plot Commendation after setting their ship on fire, and instead will need to complete the required criteria.

Megalodon Encounters

• When a Megalodon attacks a player’s ship, it should no longer intersect with the ship and cause it to be thrown into the air.
  
• Defeating a Megalodon when it is close to a ship should no longer cause the ship to be thrown into the air.
  
• Upon encountering a Megalodon, it should no longer become stuck when following close behind a player’s ship and should change direction before attacking.
  
• Pursuing Megalodons should now navigate more smoothly around the rocky arches found out at sea.

Buried Treasure

• Burying a Broken Emissary Flag and digging it up will no longer cause it to lose its gold value when cashed in with The Reaper’s Bones.
  
• Digging up and quickly burying booby-trapped treasure should no longer cause any enemies to retreat back into the sand.
  
• Taking items from a Collector's Chest while holding a Map Bundle should no longer cause the item to disappear.
  
• Crews should no longer receive additional Renown for bringing treasure on board when retrieving, burying and digging up treasure multiple times.
  
• When attempting to bury something in the same spot as an already buried item, the tooltip shown while wielding a shovel will now inform players clearly that the item cannot be buried.
  
• Crews are no longer able to retrieve a buried treasure map from Quest Boards while in an Arena contest.
  
• Tall Tale items should now have appropriate pop-up notifications when buried or dug up.
  
• Buried treasure maps of The Sunken Grove should now be accurate and no longer show some areas of land as water.
  
• Players burying items within the Pirate Legend Hideout will no longer receive a treasure map.

Fireworks

• Fireworks should no longer work while in the Tunnels of the Damned, and any activated prior to entering will automatically be cancelled.
  
• A player’s first launched firework can now consistently be heard flying through the air.

Sitting and Sleeping

• Players sitting or sleeping can no longer avoid idle timers and should now be removed from the game after a period of inactivity.
  
• Players who are sleeping will now consistently take damage from ranged weapon fire.
  
• Some pirate body types should no longer find excessive clipping occurring when sitting in various locations.
  
• Ancient Spire and Plunder Outpost taverns should no longer have a sitting spot located in the floor.
  
• Rocks around a firepit on Cannon Cove should now have a sitting interaction.
  
• The first-person camera should no longer face the incorrect way when attaching to interactable objects after standing from a seated position.
  
• When sitting on the Captain’s chair on board a ship, switching to the third-person camera will now always move to an appropriate camera position even while the ship is moving.
  
• Sitting spots in the Tavern of the Damned no longer overlap with the ghosts of pirates in the tavern.
  
• Sitting spots at Hidden Spring Keep Fort now place the pirate correctly on the floor when viewed by others.
  
• Sitting in various locations like the end of the Brigantine bed and some benches found on Outposts should no longer cause the camera to move into an incorrect position.

Rats on Ships

• Rats should still be present on a ship with water in it even if the player leaves the ship and returns.
  
• When a Galleon’s lower and middle decks fill with water, rats will now be seen using the stairs to evacuate to the top deck more clearly.

Tunnels of the Damned

• Players should no longer be able to interact with a docked Cannon Rowboat while travelling through the Tunnels of the Damned.
  
• Players can now freely move emote and sitting cameras without being affected by invisible walls while travelling through the Tunnels of the Damned.
  
• After passing through the Tunnels of the Damned, players performing their first emote will continue to see themselves clearly when adjusting the view.

Sunken Kingdom

• Players should still be able to open the Captain's quarters from a Lost Shipments Voyage shipwreck after storing the key in a Sunken Merfolk Statue.
  
• In Siren Treasuries, the Vault Master should no longer reappear after it is defeated should the player subsequently be killed and return from the Ferry of the Damned.
  
• After completing a Siren Treasury and returning to restart the encounter, crews will no longer find the Vault Master appears prior to the final wave.
  
• Shrine of Ancient Tears – Areas within the Shrine should now load correctly, no longer causing sections to quickly flash.
  
• Shrine of Ancient Tears – Cursed Voyage items can no longer be dropped onto coral, making them inaccessible.
  
• Shrine of Ocean’s Fortune – Treasure retrieved from the Sunken Merfolk Statue near the top of the Shrine should no longer cause items to float off the edge of the platform.

Tall Tales

• Rowboats can no longer be pushed into the Castaway’s hut.
  
• Ammo pouches on a harpoon should no longer be carried through the Tunnel of the Damned.
  
• ‘Shores of Gold’ – Killing the Gold Hoarder without entering the final room should no longer cause another to appear on the throne.
  
• ‘The Sunken Pearl’ – Visual effects should no longer be missing from the smaller air-giving plants.
  
• ‘The Sunken Pearl’ – Players should now get a notification in the correct language informing them when they have failed the Silver Blade battle.
  
• ‘Captains of the Damned’ – Braziers can now more clearly be seen from the watchtower at all graphics quality settings.
  
• ‘Captains of the Damned’ – The rock formation in the bayou should now have the correct collision and players should no longer be able to walk in the air.
  
• ‘Captains of the Damned’ – Cancelling the Tale after the exit portal to the Tunnels of the Damned has been summoned will now move players through the portal and back to the Sea of Thieves.
  
• ‘Captains of the Damned’ – Players should no longer respawn back in the Pirate Legend Hideout during the Tale if they started the Tale while inside the Hideout.

Player Input Handling

• Further improvements to the responsiveness of radial menus on lower-spec hardware.
  
• Rebinding sprint controls to the right analogue stick no longer requires players to hold the stick down instead of just clicking.

Environment

• Improved player collision with the geometry around the tables at the top of the Sea Dog Tavern in Adventure.
  
• Upon reaching the Ferry of the Damned after drowning, the Well of Fates correctly shows that no Flame of Fate can be acquired.
  
• The Well of Fates on the Ferry of the Damned now has appropriate tooltips telling players that they need to raise their lantern to collect a Flame of Fate.
  
• Players are once again able to read Grace’s Journal when discovered on Ashen Reaches.
  
• The ship’s map of Thieves’ Haven now shows the location of the newly added platforms.
  
• Players should no longer be safe-teleported when firing themselves out of the cannon on the northern shore of Devil's Ridge.
  
• On Shark Bait Cove, players should no longer be launched into the air when passing between two rocks on south-eastern side of the Island.

Visual and Audio

• When performing the Sand Angel Emote on a moving ship, the sand visual effects will no longer trail behind the player.
  
• When players attack various surfaces with a sword, other players will now see and hear the intended visual and audio effects.
  
• Throwing water at another player on a moving ship should now show the water effects behaving correctly.
  
• When players stop rowing and set down the oars, the audio effect will no longer play for longer than intended.
  
• The Tattoo of Ancient Gold now appears correctly on a range of large pirate body shapes.
  
• Players standing next to a fire on board their ship will no longer see an extended distance through a fog bank.
  
• The Old Boar Firework now has appropriate audio effects when fired.
  
• The Curse of Sunken Sorrow is now displayed correctly when players are wearing a range of Admiral shirts.
  
• When performing the Coin Toss Emote with a hook equipped, the coin now correctly rests on the hook.
  
• Some pirate body types should no longer be shown with disconnected limbs when viewed from a distance while wearing items from the Bell Brigade, Midnight Blades or Party Boat clothing sets.
  
• Players should now be able to see the visual effects when another player hits the wood placed in a campfire.
  
• When returning to a ship from the Ferry of the Damned, the ropes holding a docked Rowboat should now be shown correctly.
  
• Players will now hear appropriate audio effects when digging up artefacts and Ashen Winds Skulls.
  
• Aiming down sights with the Victorious Sea Dog Blunderbuss should no longer clip through the camera.

Accessibility

• When using ‘Let Games Read to Me’ alongside ‘Narrate Changes Only’, adjusting sliders within the Settings menu will now narrate the full value when stopping.
  
• Improvements to font sizing and line spacing within the Custom Server Create Session screens to improve readability.
  
• When using ‘Let Games Read to Me’, navigating the Settings menu using both mouse and controller should no longer incorrectly identify controller movements as a mouse hover.

Text and Localisation

• Long item names should now appear correctly formatted when using pirate phrases.

Performance and Stability

• The systems which load and manage audio across the game have now been optimised, providing a sizeable improvement to memory usage on PC.
  
• Following audio memory optimisations, older consoles and lower-spec hardware should no longer experience scenarios where sounds may fail to play on cue due to low audio memory.
  
• Client stability has been improved, reducing scenarios where the game hangs during active gameplay.
  
• Optimisations made to how emergent island threats move and attack, improving responsiveness and server performance.
  
• Improved handling of music within Siren Treasuries to improve server performance.
  
• Improved server stability when players are transferring items from storage crates while exiting the game.
  
• Improved server stability when multiple players are interacting with Quest Boards at Outposts.

Ranged and Melee Weapon Hit Detection

• In areas of intense action, players may find themselves firing shots or landing strikes that do not cause damage to their targets. While small improvements continue to be delivered during our regular updates, we are continuing to investigate and identify further improvements to the player combat experience.

To learn more about known issues in Sea of Thieves currently being tracked and their status, head over to our Known Issues support site article.

Download size:
Steam: 6.77 GB

Here at Rare, we know we have an incredibly special and unique Sea of Thieves community. From fan art and fundraisers to lifelong friendships being formed, not a day goes by where we don’t log in and see a sea of inspiring acts and perfect plays (and stunning puns, which we also enjoy). You constantly make our day – which is why this January, we’re making a concerted effort to make yours.

Yes, the start of 2022 sees us holding our first ever Sea of Thieves Community Day as part of Season Five! This momentous occasion is all about rewarding and celebrating you, our brilliant and spirited sailors – and we’d really love for you to join us for the party on Sunday, January 30th. We have quite the list of ways you can get involved, gathered into this delightful article right here for you all to digest. Scroll on for the full roster of shenanigans!



For the first time ever, we’ll be putting the gold and reputation levels in your hands. That’s right: as the community, you will have the power to affect in-game rewards through the power of social media.

Just hop onto Twitter and tweet using the hashtag #SeaOfThievesCommunityDay between Sunday, January 30th and Monday, January 31st (10am GMT both days) to play your part in boosting the Community Emissary Grade. Every time a cumulative community tweet total is hit, we’ll notch up the multiplier on in-game rewards – so the more you all tweet, the more gold and reputation you’ll be able to earn!

We’ll keep you posted on your progress live on the day itself, so make sure you’re following us ahead of time. We’re excited to see how quickly you can level up, as we know you can be quite the noisy bunch when you want to be! As an added bonus, Renown will be boosted too – so there’s lots to play for.

We want to see all your favourite stories and screenshots shared with the hashtag, so make sure you come well-equipped with content to show off. However, if you don’t have any screenshots to hand, don’t worry – on the day, you’ll be able to head to our Community Hub for a shiny share card to signpost your involvement in the festivities.

Tweeting hard as a community will see you hit our top target for the top Emissary Grade and unlock our highest ever reward multiplier – making your treasure an astonishing three-and-a-half times more valuable than it would be during a regular session. Not only that, but the usual reward boosts will apply if you’re sailing as a regular Emissary, meaning huge potential for big gains. Think of what you could do with all that gold – maybe even treat yourself to a Dark Adventurers item! The multiplier will be in effect for a full 24 hours, so you’ll have until 10am GMT on January 31st to hit the seas and rack up some hefty hauls.


By way of gentle encouragement to set sail and join us, you’ll be greeted with a couple of in-game bonuses upon waking up in the tavern. The Power Chord Emote will be awarded so that you can rock around the Sea of Thieves with your fellow crewmates, but the day’s crowning glory of bonuses is the Season Five Community Day Flag: an exclusive item that will only be available during this Event.

Make sure you take the time to climb your mast and equip the flag when you set sail. We want to see everyone flying their friendly flags high during any special Community Day sessions (even if they have slightly less friendly intentions)!

We’re keen for players all over the internet to able to benefit from our inaugural Sea of Thieves Community Day, which is why we’re planning some shenanigans on Twitch too. From January 30th to 31st (10am GMT both days), the Gilded Phoenix Tankard will be a Twitch Drop for everyone! This means you can log in and watch any participating streamers play Sea of Thieves for 20 minutes to score yourself a fancy new item. Prepare yourself by heading to our Twitch Drops page if you’ve yet to link your Twitch and Sea of Thieves accounts.

We’ll even be running a special celebratory sale on our Sea of Thieves merchandise store, where for one day only, all products of a piratical persuasion will be discounted by 30% – so if you’ve got your keen corsair eye on some Sea of Thieves-themed merch, shopping on January 30th will ensure your coin travels that little bit further. Just use COMMUNITYDAY at checkout to ensure your discount is applied! As the icing on the cake we’ll be launching a beautiful bespoke Community Day t-shirt, which will only be on sale that day – so you’ll need to be quick if you want to bag this piece of special swag.



Sea of Thieves’ first Community Day will also see us sing the praises of some presently unsung community heroes. Since we went big on #BeMorePirate as a way to show off and share Sea of Thieves feats and creations, we’ve been wowed by (and rewarded many of) your arty and ingenious acts, but for this special day we’re upping the generosity once again. On January 30th, we’ll take a moment to award the Hat of Unfeasibly Glorious Fame to a host of players who’ve stood out to us as unfeasibly glorious pirates in recent months.

Whether you’ve performed an astonishing feat on the seas and would like us to tip the hat in your direction, or you’d like to shout out a crewmate or friend who embodies the Be More Pirate mantra for less specific but no less worthy reasons, we’ll be taking nominations for this mega hat drive all the way up to the big day. This is something you can get involved in starting from now – so if there’s something or someone you’d like to draw our attention to, tell us about it on our social channels (the more info the better) with the #BeMorePirate tag. We’ll be watching!

Finally, the most important thing you need to do to prepare for the Season Five Community Day is contact your crew – or, if you’re a lone wolf, mark some time in your diary for a serious bit of solo Sloopin’. Plan a session for Sunday, January 30th and plot a course for adventure alongside all our other wonderful pirates in this celebration of Sea of Thieves’ super community. The seas would be a very boring place without our players, and on January 30th, we want to take the time to shine a spotlight on all of you – so be there!

It's 2022 and we're in the future! But as the purpose of this round-up is to revisit the recent past, from Season Five's arrival through to Grogmanay and a year-ending bout of Gold & Glory, we encourage you future folk to deactivate your smart eyepatches and dismiss your robot monkey butlers for a few minutes. Then join us, your time-travelling pals, for a quaint look back at the last leg of 2021 in the world of Sea of Thieves...


December was another Seasonal launch month, unleashing 2021's fifth in-game Season in the form of, cleverly, Sea of Thieves Season Five. And jam-packed with new features it was too, from the long-awaited arrival of a treasure-burying mechanic and accompanying Quest Board to the crates of fireworks rushed in ready for the festive season. And dice! And rats! And Cannon Rowboats! Haven't played for a while and want the full breakdown? You can see everything, Patrick Stewart-style, on our Season Five landing page or in the remorseless detail of the release notes.

Yes, there were time-limited Events too: the customary pairing of the Festival of Giving across the middle of the month and Grogmanay bouncing blearily off the walls as New Year approached. The Festival of Giving also brought the gift of Gilded Voyages, while Grogmanay debuted an Annual Tankard for strong-stomached repeat participants.

And what should turn up in December's Pirate Emporium restock but a surprise new batch of cosmetics inspired by Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean, comprising a Captain Barbossa Costume, Royal Revenge ship set and matching Royal Revenge weapons – and even the now-traditional roleplaying pet in the form of the Mutinous Mutt! All that plus a particularly packed Plunder Pass, and if you're quick you can still jump in and grab your freebie Festive Tree Emote, although it's fair to say you may have missed the moment for using it in-game.



Continuing the theme of "Blimey O'Reilly O'Rourke, a lot happened in December considering a chunk of it was Christmas" was our news coverage, with the Sea of Thieves website celebrating charitable proceeds from the Sails of Sharing, cheering the milestone of five million Steam sales and encouraging players to rub their noses in our Season Five Deep Dive with bonus article-based enthusiasm from the Design team.

Alongside those sat another pair of player profiles – a Creator Spotlight on Shrouded Ghost slayer Sotus and a Community Spotlight on SoT France fan film favourite Gatas – plus a final 2021 batch of Community Hub player stories, not forgetting our fourth Fan Art Gallery Showcase over on the Rare site. Meanwhile we encouraged players to share their own stories via the slinky medium of stats, spun up by 2021's incarnation of the Your Story So Far page! Light a fire under your filthy Bilge Rat Boots and you can still swipe your own stats before the page goes under...

We also embarked upon a team-up with Streamheroes, knocked through another wall to add more merch to our online store (including Sea of Thieves shoes, what a time to be alive) and ushered in the festive season with the latest streamable soundtrack addition, 'Call of the Bells'. And we were over the moon to receive a Most Improved accessibility award from Can I Play That? in the light of our ongoing efforts in this area – you'll regularly see Accessibility updates in our release notes (archived on the What's New page, release note enthusiasts).

And of course we couldn't ignore the return of famous Halo star Mister Chafe in December, saluting his rash-inducing escapades with this launch day crossover artwork alongside the time-limited Noble Spartan Sails and Flag offered to freshen up your UNSC livery. UNSC... of Thieves. Sorry. Look, stop that, we can't do a proper segue into the video section if you're going to throw things.




Now, December wasn't just about Season Five's big video hitters, the hype-inciting content update trailer and the talking-head-tastic Deep Dive. No, there were other bits of footage sent out to ensnare your flighty attention spans – like our 2021 Year in Review video, a visual reminder of what was in the last 12 months' worth of free updates shipped onto the seas. Or the fun-sized launch trailers for the Festival of Giving and Grogmanay Events. No? What about our lovingly crafted video accompaniment to the 'Call of the Bells' track? Still no? Honestly.

If streaming's more your thing, Sea of Thieves TV continued its packed pattern of Twitch programming, including the last episode in the current run of riddle-weaponising chase-fest The Gauntlet. Sea of Thieves Season Five does of course come bearing Twitch Drops too, the first of which fell into the laps of diligent stream-watchers right after the Season launched. Keep checking our channels for the next set of Drops so you don't miss the opportunity to look PROPER DAPPER in your Twilight Hunter clobber.



In the odd spare minute between announcing all this malarkey on Sea of Thieves' channels, we like to make sure there's exclusive stuff there too for you to participate in what we won't call 'bants' until we've asked around what the new word for 'bants' is. In December there were special festive giveaways featuring stuff ferreted out of our actual physical office, a stash of downloadable wallpapers emblazoned with recent artwork, some important questions asked and a whole lot of orb pondering because the internet is weird and that's how it decided it wanted to see out 2021. Merry Christmas!

Our regular hashtags also kept the content coming, even when we were all at home weighing up the viability of Ferrero Rocher curry on Boxing Day: #TriviaTuesday coughed up hairballs of info on new features like those Cannon Rowboats and fireworks plus the Dark Brethren and Bell Brigade, while #SoTGear showcased a cheeky five weekly choices of fan-favourite cosmetics ranging from the showroom-fresh Party Boat and Midnight Blades sets to the classic Magpie's Fortune Sails.

Mid-December's #SoTShot entries on the Festive Fun theme sent us spiralling into the usual moral crisis as we tried to pull a list of winners from a ludicrously good shortlist, and then we solicited it all over again with a New Year, New You #SoTShot theme taking us into 2022. And the year's last lot of #SundayVibes skipped specific island locations in favour of ambience from the Season Five splash screen, the Maiden Voyage, the best seat to watch the sun go down and a festive fireplace to warm your cockles afterwards. Doesn't have to be cockles, other disgusting edible bivalves are available.



That's about the sum of it for 2021! You may now resume the future – a future into which you can accompany us by following Sea of Thieves on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube or Twitch, unless you just want to hurl your demented 2022 opinions around like upsetting confetti on our Forums or Discord server, which is fine too, maybe, within reason. Now then shopkeepers, where's our Dark Adventurers Mech Suit and Jetpack of the Wailing Barnacle? What sort of a future is this?

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1172620/Sea_of_Thieves/

Even as we finish celebrating the grand milestone of 25 million Sea of Thieves players, we’re already rolling out the barrel again as we surpass five million units sold on Steam! With Sea of Thieves being our first game developed in-house for PC as well as Xbox, we’re absolutely delighted to see such a huge influx of new pirates starting their adventures since the game made it to Steam in June last year. No matter which platform you play Sea of Thieves on, it would never have had this success without the support of you, the players – so all we can say is thank you!

We’re overjoyed to see more and more players – regardless of platform, device or where they are in the world – joining us on our pirate odyssey and making the Sea of Thieves an ever more vibrant place. On Steam alone, our thriving community now features over 10,000 discussions, thousands of people seeking others to sail with and close to 500 guides written by you, the players. We’re also especially pleased with the growth of spaces like our official Discord server, which is nearing 300,000 members! If you’re ever looking for fellow crewmates to sail with, lore specialists to muse on your theories or simply a place to hang out, these are welcoming spaces for pirates of all stripes.



As we’re never ones to shy away from a celebration, we’re marking this latest milestone of five million Steam sales with a special gift for the whole community over the next week. All you have to do is jump in and play Sea of Thieves at any time between December 22nd at 14:00 and December 29th at 23:59 (times in GMT), and you’ll receive the All Together Now! Emote for free. Great for keeping the band on beat when you’re out carolling!

If you’ve yet to take the plunge and join us on the seas, you’re in luck as we’re also part of the Steam Winter Sale – perfect for sailors looking to snag a festive bargain.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1172620/Sea_of_Thieves/

Whether you’re a console corsair or a Steamboat sailor, there’s plenty coming over the horizon for Sea of Thieves. To see what new features we’ve added to the game in the last 18 months, check out our celebratory Xbox Wire post listing off 25 new things to try. And for incoming updates, keep your spyglasses trained on our collection of social channels: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitch, TikTok and the official Forums and Discord server.



Another hearty thank you from all of us on the Sea of Thieves team for helping the game and its community reach this milestone, and we hope to see you on the seas soon!

With the nights drawing in and the chill of winter fast approaching, Sea of Thieves offers a warm welcome to pirates old and new with the arrival of Season Five. With new Seasonal rewards, Events and a whole host of quality of life updates to deepen your pirate immersion, this Season also brings in pirate pyrotechnics and a long-requested game-changing feature: burying treasure! If you’re keen to dig into this and everything else Sea of Thieves has to offer, Season Five is now available as a free download for all players on Steam.

As with previous Seasons, Season Five and its 100 levels of rewards can be embarked upon free of charge by all Sea of Thieves players. To earn rewards, raise your Renown by sailing the seas and tackling regularly rotating Trials and Deeds. The Season Five Plunder Pass can also be purchased separately, enhancing your pool of Seasonal rewards with premium goodies not yet available anywhere else! Find out more in our Seasons Explained and Plunder Pass Explained articles.




Enough of only digging up other pirates’ spoils – finally, you can bury your own! Season Five now allows you to fulfil that crucial part of any pirate fantasy, by letting you bury almost any item and create a map leading right back to it. You can do this purely for safekeeping, or post your map on the new Quest Board at the nearest Outpost and challenge other crews to seek it out.

If another crew successfully finds the location of your buried treasure, you’ll earn a healthy dose of Renown. Just be careful when following other players’ maps taken from the Quest Board – you can never be sure if what’s been hidden away is prime loot or something not quite so desirable…




Whether you’re kicking off celebrations or just sending up a flare, Season Five brings in some explosive ordinance for pyrotechnically inclined pirates!

Fireworks come in a spectrum of different colors and designs, and can be found in barrels around the Sea of Thieves or bought in themed Firework Crates from the Merchant Alliance. If you’ve found yourself in a spot of trouble, there are also Signal Flares to help you signal to passing crews that you’d appreciate a little help.



Fireworks and Signal Flares alike can be fired from cannons, even from the prow of the Cannon Rowboat – a new mini-craft for any pirate who likes the idea of being a one-person demolition team!

These new features are accompanied by numerous quality of life updates to improve in-game immersion, whether it’s sitting and sleeping, passing the time on board with new shanties and dice emotes, whispering to crewmates by turning your speaking trumpet around or watching rats scurry around your sinking ship. Plus of course there’s a new crop of time-limited Events, kicking off with our annual celebration of charity, the Festival of Giving, and the traditional end-of-year bash, Grogmanay. Throw yourself into the spirit of the season to earn some festive cosmetics!


As with previous Seasons, pirates can bolster the Seasonal rewards available with never-before-seen goodies from the Season Five Plunder Pass! Wrap up warm, as this latest Plunder Pass arrives on glacial winds – headlined by the complete Boreal Aurora ship set, which channels the dazzling aurora that streaks across the northern skies. Also included is the evolving Creeping Cold Costume, which transforms as you progress through the Season’s 100 levels, and the adorable Sand Angel Emote. A special festive haul of 750 Ancient Coins is also included, which – combined with the 250 already earnable through Seasonal progression – lets you recoup the cost of the Plunder Pass if you reach a high enough level!



The Pirate Emporium’s range of wares inspired by Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean also gets a boost in Season Five: the fearsome Royal Revenge ship and weapon sets, Captain Barbossa Costume and Mutinous Mutt pet all evoke tales of one of the most treacherous captains who ever sailed the seas…


For more information on the Sea of Thieves Season Five update, including full release notes, visit the Sea of Thieves website. The update is available for free to all Sea of Thieves players who have the game on Steam. Simply download and install the latest Sea of Thieves update to get access.

New to Sea of Thieves? Find out about the latest free content updates on our What’s New page and pick up some tips from our Pirate Academy, which provides invaluable information on topics ranging from sailing to swordplay as you prepare for your maiden voyage. Learn more about Sea of Thieves at https://www.xbox.com/seaofthieves, or join the ongoing adventure at https://www.seaofthieves.com/ where you can embark on an epic journey with one of gaming’s most welcoming communities!


https://store.steampowered.com/app/1172620/Sea_of_Thieves/

First off, we have to say a huge thank you to all those sailors who've taken to the seas and made Sea of Thieves a heartwarming Steam success story since our launch here in June 2020!



Now we're looking towards the next horizon: getting some wind in our sails for this year's Steam Awards! For that, we're going to need the help of our many bold pirate crews (that's you) to nominate Sea of Thieves under 'Labor of Love' - a category especially for games still getting love and attention long after launch.

If the game goes on to be successfully shortlisted in this category, we'd love your support again when final voting goes live in December. We know you can help Sea of Thieves romp to victory, pirates!

As part of the Autumn sale, you'll be able to grab Sea of Thieves for 40% and satisfy all of your pirating needs!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1172620/Sea_of_Thieves/

At a time of year when people from distant lands traditionally give thanks, the Bilge Rats wish to celebrate the plenty that the Sea of Thieves has to offer! In this Event, come together with your fellow pirates for a cornucopia of activities – first to prepare for the feast, then to celebrate it heartily. Special Event-themed cosmetics and seasonal Renown are up for grabs!

As a feast of this magnitude requires suitable planning, the Event is split into two phases: Preparation and Celebration. The Preparation phase begins on November 22nd, with pirates completing Preparation Challenges such as cooking meat and collecting the Feast of Bounty Flag to ready themselves for the upcoming revelry.

With the provisions procured, it’s time to party! The Celebration phase kicks off on November 25th and runs until the Event ends on November 29th, with a new set of Celebration Challenges to help all pirates enjoy the feast as much as possible. Dress for the occasion, eat your fill and celebrate!


This Event runs from November 22nd to November 29th, 2021 (10:00 UTC). Plenty of time to dive into the Challenges and swipe all the rewards!

Complete Preparation and Celebration Challenges during this Event (along with the overarching Overindulgence Challenge) to earn gold, Seasonal Renown and Event-themed cosmetics. Cosmetics earned will be available to equip from the relevant in-game chests within 72 hours. Sign in and track your Event progress over on the Festival of Bounty webpage here.

To take part in the Preparation phase, complete Preparation Challenges between November 22nd and November 25th. To take part in the Celebration phase, complete Celebration Challenges between November 25th and the Event’s end on November 29th. Preparation Challenges can still be completed during the Celebration phase, so you’ve got bags of time to join in the festivities!

Please raise your request at the Sea of Thieves support site so that our team can investigate.

Recruit some new faces to your crew, and go play some tricks on your fellow pirates this Halloween! Between October 28th and November 1st, Sea of Thieves will be 25% off on Steam.

The seas are bustling with things to do - both above and below the surface - so gather together some novice navigators and set out on a pirate odyssey.




Not only do you get a nice discount if you purchase Sea of Thieves during this time-limited sale as part of the Skeletal Sailor Starter Edition, you'll also receive a set of Reaper's Heart weapons and a Skeleton Alsatian pet - items only otherwise available in the Pirate Emporium!

If you're looking to deck out both your ship and yourself in further fancy fare, visit the Emporium in-game to see what other weapon and ship sets, emote bundles, pets and costumes catch your eye. While you're there, don't forget to pick up the latest free emote: Seriously Spooked. A fitting reaction to this eeriest of seasons!

As the leaves change and we leave summer behind, Sea of Thieves also enters a new Season with the arrival of Season Four. In addition to new Events, Seasonal rewards and an overhaul to our Trials and Deeds system, Season Four fully unveils the Sunken Kingdom – previously only explorable via the Tall Tales brought in with Season Three, now filled with new treasures to claim and secrets to uncover. Sea of Thieves Season Four is available now as a free download for all players on Steam.

As with previous Seasons, Season Four lays out 100 levels of progression-based rewards obtainable by simply living the pirate life and accruing Renown, and also offers an optional Plunder Pass packed with premium goodies not yet available anywhere else! Find out more about the workings of Seasons and the Plunder Pass in our Seasons Explained and Plunder Pass Explained articles.




First experienced as part of the Tall Tales added in Season Three, the Sunken Kingdom now expands with numerous new areas accessible at any time in Season Four. Locations marked on the ship’s map and visible shimmering spots on the ocean’s surface indicate where pirates can dive down to investigate this mysterious undersea realm.

Within the Sunken Kingdom are six Siren Shrines, each one filled with puzzles to solve and mysteries to uncover, and a cache of deep sea treasure available for anyone who manages to breach its heart. Undersea adventurers will need to be alert at all times, as the Sirens do not go easy on intruders!
Pirates can also dive down to plunder the Siren Treasuries, battling waves of Ocean Crawlers and Sirens to claim the new Coral treasures kept within. To learn more about all that awaits explorers of the Sunken Kingdom, visit our dedicated Season Four page.


To help players climb Season Four’s 100 levels of progression and unlock the associated rewards, our Trials and Deeds have evolved! A wider range of regularly rotating Deeds now expands the ways in which players can boost their Renown. Daily Deeds offer bite-sized challenges, while weekly, monthly and Seasonal Trials provide longer-term goals with more sizeable Renown rewards.



Along with these updates, Season Four brings in the latest range of time-limited Events – starting with a celebration of the Sea of Thieves’ annual Festival of the Damned! This year’s themed Event is entitled Fury of the Damned, and will span an entire month as the Pirate Lord proposes challenges to quiet the restless dead that haunt the seas. For their assistance in these island exorcisms, pirates will be suitably rewarded with creepy-crawly cosmetics.


Coming to the Pirate Emporium this Season is the Golden Nile Ship Collection, a lustrous ensemble inspired by a famous waterway and its scaly denizens. Pirates wishing to add a bit of bite to their appearance can also snap up matching weapons and the Golden Nile Costume, which comes with a built-in Sand Shaker emote – perfect for dusting yourself off after a long night of digging for treasure. And for anyone who wants to look extra smug after sinking a ship, new Victorious Weapon Pose emotes are just the ticket. Don’t forget there’s another freebie emote up for grabs too!



As in previous Seasons, pirates can choose to bolster their Seasonal pool of rewards with a brand new Plunder Pass. Don’t get too spooked, but Season Four’s Plunder Pass is headlined by the Jack O’ Looter Costume, inspired by a mythical swindler who haunts the dreams of many a young pirate. Also on offer are matching Jack O’ Looter weapon and ship sets, as well as the Vulnerable Weapon Pose Emote – all available via the Plunder Pass first, before they make their way to the Pirate Emporium in a later update.


For more information on the Sea of Thieves Season Four update, including full release notes, visit the Sea of Thieves website. The update is available for free to all Sea of Thieves players who have bought the game on Steam, Simply download and install the latest Sea of Thieves update to get access.

New to Sea of Thieves? Find out about the latest free content updates on our What’s New page and pick up some tips from our Pirate Academy, which provides invaluable information on topics ranging from sailing to swordplay as you prepare for your maiden voyage. Learn more about Sea of Thieves at https://www.xbox.com/seaofthieves, or join the ongoing adventure at https://www.seaofthieves.com/ where you can embark on an epic journey with one of gaming’s most welcoming communities!

Cause mischief on the Sea of Thieves and earn the Mayhem ship set inspired by Gearbox Software
During the Xbox Gamescom Stream, Sea of Thieves surprised players with a stunning ship set designed in collaboration with the team over at Gearbox Software. Pirates will be able to earn the full Mayhem ship set by taking part in the Making Mayhem event, live from now until September 7!


Head to the Sea of Thieves website for a full list of chaotic challenges you can tackle to unlock this eye-catching crossover livery.